1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for hanging and retrieving ornaments, light strands and other objects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Festive and holiday decorating has been a highly popular pastime for a considerable number of years. In particular, ornaments and lights have been hung on trees, supporting guy wires and other suspension devices to celebrate holidays, religious observances and other occasions.
Despite the substantial popularity of festive and holiday decorating, the methodologies for placing and removing such ornamentation have not been particularly successful. This is especially true where the ornamentation or other objects are positioned and removed at heights above one's shoulders. For example, stools and ladders may provide adequate assistance for handling ornamentation on short trees, but they are of little assistance if the tree is over 8 feet in height.
A variety of devices has been developed to help people perform activities at heights above their shoulders and in other awkward or hazardous positions. See, for example, the devices shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 705,775, 734,180, 1,217,680, 1,512,315, 3,644,951, 3,819,221, 3,868,136, 3,936,088, 4,153,286, 4,395,840, 4,683,783, 4,899,050 and 5,224,745.
However, these devices would be of little assistance to a person hanging ornaments or other objects having a hook insofar as these devices mainly consist of fork-type devices which would support the ornament hook at the very place said hook is to be placed on a branch or other object support. Therefore, placing an ornament on a branch with these devices would be very difficult because the fork would come in contact with the branch, thereby disrupting neighboring ornaments and making the transfer of the ornament from the device to the branch a tedious event.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an ornament handling apparatus which assists in the hanging and removal of ornaments and other objects, especially at heights above a person's shoulders. It is a further object of the invention to assist one with the placement and removal of ornaments without disrupting previously hung ornaments. Finally, it is an additional object of the invention to provide an apparatus which is easy to use, lightweight, inexpensive and simple in construction.